


Forget All The Shooting Stars and All The Silver Moons

by fandomworshipper



Series: Brotzly One Shots [4]
Category: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (TV 2016)
Genre: Astronomy, Cute, First Kiss, Fluff, Getting Together, M/M, Pining, Todd Brotzman is Bad at Feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-09
Updated: 2018-05-09
Packaged: 2019-05-04 12:14:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14592816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fandomworshipper/pseuds/fandomworshipper
Summary: Dirk discovers libraries and, more significantly, astronomy - and, of course, repressed Todd secretly thinks this man-child is the most adorable person he's ever met in his entire life.





	Forget All The Shooting Stars and All The Silver Moons

**Author's Note:**

> *cups ear* oh? Is that... Could it be... AnothER Troye Sivan quote as a title?  
> Why yes! Yes it is! What a surPRISE
> 
> This was pretty much just inspired by the fact that I unearthed the astronomy section in our town library today and found 'The Sky at Night' by Patrick Moore and Chris North, and 'A Down to Earth Guide to the Cosmos' by Mark Thompson, and I have a newfound passion  
> Seriously the universe is so cool wtf

'Todd!'

'What?'

'Todd!'

'What?!'

'Todd!'

He sighed and kicked back his office chair from his desk as he stood up. He trudged his way into the main room, where his best friend was sat, nose deep in a tattered, blue-covered book.

'What, Dirk?'

'Ah! Todd! Did you know that nebulae are either star clusters, gas clouds, stars forming, solar systems-'

'How long's this list gonna be?'

Dirk pulled the book away from his face briefly to frown at Todd. When he reverted back to skim-reading much too close to his eyes to be good for them, he continued. 'There's one called the Eagle Nebula, which you can see without any quirky gadgets because it's had a lot of stars form there, so the light reflects off the gas in it, so that's why you can see it. Isn't that wonderful?!'

Todd could only keep up the exasperated facade for so long; a fond smile crept onto his face, and he sat down beside Dirk. Kicking his legs up onto the coffee table, he said, 'go on.'

Dirk's delighted expression made it all the more worth it.

\----

'Dirk! Don't sit on the couch like that, and Todd! Todd! Feet off the coffee table!' Farah flicked a stray ringlet out of her face, lips pressed together in a fine line.

The perpetrators both muttered a 'sorry', Dirk flopping his legs down onto the arm of the sofa, before turning himself fully upright from where he had been laying upside down on the seat. Todd dropped his feet from the table.

'And, err,' Farah began, 'I had no idea you were into-' she strained to read the silver writing down the spine of the book, '-astronomy.'

'Oh, goodness, Farah! It's bloody brilliant! Did you know, some marvellous evidence for the theory of the Big Bang and the fact that there are no constants in the universe is that space is black! You see, even though light does  _have_  a speed, if the universe and all the stars and planets had been around for ever, all the light from them would have reached us by now, and the night sky wouldn't be dark at all! It would be a myriad of colours, from every light source or reflector that's out there!'

Farah stood for a moment, nodding slowly, as if she barely understood the concept, and Dirk's no-breaths-delivery wasn't helping, while the expression beside the detective was of a completely different tone; even with just a glance, Farah noticed how Todd's eyes gleamed with... Pride? Endearment? 

Shaking her head briskly, she smiled and said a quick, 'that's awesome, Dirk. I've got to file some expenses, but I'll be done within two hours.' With that, she slipped back out of the room.

\----

Todd yanked Dirk out of the way of yet another lamp post as he wandered in the vague direction of their flat, interest clasped tightly in the grip of the pages he held, glossy images of kaleidoscope galaxies reflected in the blue of his eyes. 

Todd wasn't staring.

Nope.

Definitely...

Not...

It'd be easier to convince even  _himself_  of this if he could look away. 

 _Aaaany_ second now...

'Todd?'

Shit.

'Todd? Are you okai?' Panic flashed across Dirk's face. 'It's not an attack, is it? Do you need anything? Todd? Todd!'

However, the panic seemed to dissipate when Dirk's gaze fell upon the deep blush currently inhabiting Todd's entire face.

When he spoke this time, it was much softer, his eyebrows knitting together. 'Todd? What's up?'

Todd shook himself. 'Nothing, Dirk, I'm fine. I promise. I- I just- I guess I just lost focus for a second.'

'Ah. Easy to do. I lose focus _all_ the time.'

'I've noticed,' Todd snorted, 'Mr Oh-Look-A-Kitten.'

Dirk mocked a gasp, exclaiming that he has 'not ever, _ever_ said 'Oh look a kitten', or been distracted by a kitten, except that one time - but that doesn't count', and behind it all was the ghost of a smile, one that, even from just the faintest impression of it, Todd knew Dirk was relieved he really was okai, and that he was okai enough to joke around again. Todd returned that glimpse fully, a gentle smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

There was a silence, a silence as open as space itself. It could have been long, or short, or somewhere in between, and the only thing either of them could see was each other. It seemed as though stars burst into life in their chests, and in the blackness of their pupils, nebulae danced and swirled, decorated with tiny street-light stars.

However, the fragile moment was shattered, fragments of a private universe scattering around them as they heard the familiar rumble of a certain van.

They both blushed immediately, and Dirk turned his face away to look at the arrivals across the street from the Ridgely.

Todd sighed, thinking the moment was ruined forever, when a tiny spark of hope lit up again, like the delayed beginning of a big bang, as Dirk leant over and whispered, 'There's a nebula called the Dumbbell, and it's the remains of a dead lower mass star.'

The grin he flashed for just a moment before he skipped over to where Amanda was standing was so bright it imprinted itself into the back of Todd's mind.

As Todd watched his best friend (okai, he had to admit it now - big time crush), he hit - no, plummeted head first into - the realisation that Dirk himself was the star at the centre of his solar system. If Todd was lost, Dirk guided him. He practically _orbited_ the detective, going wherever he went. And he was the brightest thing in Todd's life - no doubt about it. So bright, in fact, that when Todd closed his eyes, he could see the prints of those blue, _blue_ irises on the backs of them, from when they'd burned themselves into his heart forever.

This was gonna be a _long day_.

\----

The soft, cool breeze of Seattle's dusk brushed against Todd's face, and he wrapped his arms around himself. He waved, smiling warmly at his sister, and not quite so warmly at her companions. She gave him the finger, as per usual, and he grinned and returned the gesture. Amanda did, however, wrap her arms carefully around Dirk, also as per usual, before letting him go and waving, slipping into the van with the other 5 Rowdy 3 members. Beast leant out, blowing an exaggerated kiss to Dirk and yelling a gruff 'bye bye, Bibbit' into the murmuring night.

Once the gang had pulled away, swerving and speeding ridiculously around every corner, Dirk turned to Todd.

They were quite a way from the Ridgley, having gone out to a café for a late lunch (bad plan - let's just say it's lucky Farah has enough money to repay the owner) and then taking the leftover food to a park later on. Dirk frowned at the way Todd was hugging his thin shirt to himself. He slipped off his jacket, gingerly wrapping it around Todd's shaking shoulders.

'Hey, no, you keep it - you're cold too,' Todd protested, but the way the fabric smelt of that odd but comforting aroma of mint and fruit sweets that always clung to Dirk made him secretly hope he could keep it. Possibly forever.

'But you're cold. And if you're cold, then you'll be sad, and if you're sad, then I'm sad.'

Todd slipped his arms into the sleeves. 'Thanks.'

And for a second, in that gentle smile that pulled at Dirk's soft lips, Todd saw a flicker of that warmth again, saw the way the world fell away around them, how a universe opened up in its place when they looked into each other's eyes. If only for a second, he saw the way the colours in Dirk's eyes pulled the breath from his lungs, his pupils black-holes that pulled him, his gravity too strong, irises full of galaxies and cheeks dusted with stars.

And, in that moment, he felt a need for that place, that private universe, a pull so strong that when it was gone, and Dirk turned again to start walking, he felt he had to pursue it. He felt he had to explore this new-found cosmos, needed to map every last bit of matter that existed between his and Dirk's minds.

So, after that treasured second was over, Todd reached up, taking the other's face gently in his palms.

The blush that burst out beneath the faint constellations of freckles on Dirk's cheeks made something in Todd tug to be free; it fizzled and clawed, expanding within his mind.

Without thinking a second more, Todd let his eyes fall shut at he pressed his lips to Dirk's.

And the spark, the beginning, the centre of his universe exploded from between their locked lips, sheets of stars and planets, nebulae and galaxies unfurled around them.

Dirk, who'd frozen for the few seconds it took him to catch up - as if he'd been shot out to the edge of the universe, where time slowed down, and now he was speeding back towards the light of the stars, to the centre, to _Todd_ \- gasped against the other's lips. He wrapped his arms around Todd's shoulders, whose hands came up to tangle in the hair at the base of Dirk's neck.

When they finally pulled apart to breathe, the kept close, eyes locked instead of lips, and both felt the warmth of their universe around them.

Stepping onto his tip-toes, Todd briefly pressed his lips to Dirk's cheek, before whispering softly, 'you might not be in the control of the universe, but you're the star of my solar system.'


End file.
